Related Stories

Independent travel agents and suppliers who want to increase their involvement with social media and use it as a marketing tool can benefit from Passport Online Inc.’s new Agent SociaLink that is now live. The new content service is designed to help agents populate their travel agent social media sites using a clickable database of content.

Agent SociaLink is a proprietary website designed by Passport’s marketing, customer service and support teams. The new tool provides content from a variety of sources allowing agents to pick and choose information to add to social media outlets including Twitter, blogs and Facebook.

The “Build a Blog” feature, uses a simple fill-in-the blank format. Agents can create blogs on specific cruise ships, complete with ship photos and specific information preloaded and customize with their own comments and information, Passport Online says.

Subscribers to Agent SociaLink do not have to be users of Passport’s VacationPort or NexCite agent-branded, consumer-facing website programs. But for VacationPort and NexCite users, content created through Agent SociaLink can also be integrated with VacationPort and NexCite.

Those agents who are already Passport Online customers will have links embedded to relevant deals within their system. Consumers will be able to click on those deals and be directed to the agent’s website. With the Agent SociaLink program participating agents receive:

* Real-time, updated links to online popular travel related articles. Quickly glance at a list of headlines to find a story that is interesting to you or your clients and with a click of a button you can share that story with all your followers on Twitter or Facebook. * “Build a Blog Post” to guide agents through the creation of unique blog posts within minutes. Simply follow the prompts to craft an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) enhanced blog post, complete with links to corresponding offers on the agency website. Once the blog post is constructed, click on the button, copy and paste the custom post over to your blog and publish.* Access to Supplier Guest Blogs. These blog posts are provided to Passport Online from top suppliers in all product categories. Suppliers will deliver interesting informational blogs which can be customized to use directly on an agency blog or Facebook page. For Passport Online VacationPort or NexCite customers, links to supplier offers on their agency websites will automatically be embedded within the posts.* Customer support and training on how to most effectively use these new media channels is also available, Passport Online says.

The new program has also earned agent support:

“The Build a Blog and Supplier Guest Blogs are outstanding! Fantastic topics to build on easily and most importantly you are able to quickly create new blogs in a short amount of time. Plus the option of choosing a specific supplier to blog on is impressive.

This is a Win!” said Jennifer L. Smith, Branch Manager, Wings Travel Group ([email protected])

“I enjoy the product - the ease of use, simplicity of functionality, and the choice of content,” said Dennis Miller, CEO and Director of Human Resources, DJM Travel & Cruise, Inc. [email protected]

“ I love it. I don’t have to think about what to post. I just look at the topics and pick one in the AM and maybe one in the PM. I have had people tag on to some of them and even share one of them. That was a first. I like the link back to the web site,” Joan Follmann, CruisePlanners, [email protected]

Pricing for existing Passport Online customers is $25 per month. For non-Passport Online customers it is $45 a month. For further information on the new Agent SociaLink product visit [email protected]